Healthy Church Shopping

We needed some fishing line at church and I had just been out to Menards/Wal Mart so didn't want to run out there again.  So I went to Lewis since it is close.  Alas, they did not have fishing line.  So I next went to Ace Hardware.  Truthfully, I rarely go to Ace except for times like this when their diverse product lines and closer location make it easier for me to stop there and rather than heading back out to the aforementioned 'big box' stores.  They had fishing line, I bought some, all was well.

I am sure Ace would love for me to frequent their store more often than I do, but at the same time, when I need something from Ace, there they are, happy to help.  They also don't question me as to why I don't shop there more often.

How come we don't share that opinion in church work?

It's VBS week at Hillcrest and we have over 100 children in attendance- many from our church, but some from other churches.  There can be the temptation in church work to minimize folks who only attend a certain program or event (like VBS or youth ministry) at one church while attending a different church on Sunday.  And I am not advocating for more church shopping, but instead, see some of this activity as similar to my shopping at Ace.  If churches do not have a VBS or if children want to attend our VBS because of their friends or the program the children's staff puts on, that's great!  If we only see them as often as Ace sees me, we're still able to provide a service and quality ministry to them.

If churches can't be all things to all people, then we'll need to see people coming to different churches for different programs as opportunities to partner with one another, not as competition in an already diluted market.